Happy Ever After

by Pam Hillman

Storyteller. Troubadour. Oral history. Author.

As my day to blog approached, I wanted to share something inspiring and up lifting. Something to make us all feel good about our chosen profession, and to take us away from the day-to-day stress that's permeated so much of our lives of late.

Even in the toughest times, we have the best "job" in the world, don't we? We can escape from our very real daily trials and immerse ourselves in a fictional world where we're completely in control of the story. Sure, I know we talk about how our characters sometimes take over the story, but in the end, we do have control. Mostly. :)

Sometimes we just need to go back to the reason we started writing in the first place. Because we love story. We love creating the characters, the plot, figuring out all the little things that will take our protagonist through a journey where readers close the book with a happy sigh and believe that everything is going to be all right for her from here to eternity.

I'm thinking about all the books I've read over the years and those I've written, and even though I know in real life that there are going to be trials and tribulations, heartache and traumatic experiences, I've never had any problem closing a book with a happy and contended sigh that two characters I've fallen in love with have found their happy-ever-after. I know it's unrealistic to think life's going to be perfect from there on out for them, but for some reason, I'm always able to suspend disbelief and leave those characters in that perfect place of wedded (or soon-to-be) bliss. Even better is when there's an epilogue that ties things up in a sweet, pretty little bow.

The only time that changes is if those main characters become secondary characters in a series and we get to see them in a few months or years, having children or dealing with other issues in their lives.

Otherwise, they just become frozen in time.

I suppose I have the heart of a romantic, so books and movies that end horribly drive me insane. I can appreciate an author or director taking an unpopular (to me) route, but I don't have to like it. I can also understand when a book or movie is based on a true story. But, again, I don't have to like it, or even spend my time reading/watching it. 

Just recently, I started watching a docu-drama about Lady Jane Grey, but lost interest after I read what happened to the real Lady Jane. I never finished the movie. I doubt I will. Griffin and Phoenix. Same. 

I won't offend fans of certain famous tragic works, but there are several that I have never read or watched the movie versions of because I just don't care for tragic love stories. I chose not to read one such famous work when I was about 13. I remember to this day where I was (the school library) when I realized how it ended and I put it back on the shelf. Never read it, and don't have a desire to to this day over 40 years later.

I can probably count on one hand the tragic "love" stories/movies that I've read/watched from the beginning to the end. That's not to say that there aren't extremely sad situations in the books I read and write. A favorite book that I read many years ago had a little boy (the heroine's nephew) to lose his life. I should have seen it coming. The author had planted many, many clues to what was coming, but I was so wrapped up in the sweet love story unfolding that the tragedy hit me like ton of bricks, and I just sobbed and sobbed. So I'm not saying that I prefer all my reading material to be unrealistic where no one dies and no one gets sick and no one suffers. If you've read any of my work, you'll know that's not the case.

But for my hero and heroine, after I've put them through the wringer, through many twists and turns, squeezed them out and hung them out to dry, then I want them to be happy. 

Life's too short and there's too much sadness and loss in real life for me to freeze a tragic fictional love story in my mind. Instead, give me a happy-ever-after story, and that makes me happy-ever-after.

Since today is about happy ever after, I'd love for you to share a favorite feel-good book that you read over and over. Kudos if it's a Seeker novel. :) Then, spend the rest of the day or the weekend just enjoying a good story!

CBA Bestselling author PAM HILLMAN was born and raised on a dairy farm in Mississippi and spent her teenage years perched on the seat of a tractor raking hay. In those days, her daddy couldn't afford two cab tractors with air conditioning and a radio, so Pam drove an Allis Chalmers 110. Even when her daddy asked her if she wanted to bale hay, she told him she didn't mind raking. Raking hay doesn't take much thought so Pam spent her time working on her tan and making up stories in her head. Now, that's the kind of life every girl should dream of. www.pamhillman.com

Raising the Bar on Happily Ever After

By Debby Giusti

Romance readers expect—no, they demand—a Happily Ever After in the stories they read. When they pick up a novel, they’re eager to follow the hero and heroine through twists and turns, highs and lows, squabbles and make-ups to get to the end. Although readers love the journey, it’s the destination—the Happily Ever After—that brings the contented sigh as they close the book. It’s also what makes readers buy the author’s next book and the one after that so they can experience that satisfying HEA once again. 

Let’s look at other genres. Mystery stories end when the crime is solved and the guilty are apprehended and brought to justice. Some whodunits include a romantic thread, but the resolution that most satisfies the mystery reader is solving the crime along with the story’s sleuth.

In suspense, thriller and horror genres, readers experience a surge of adrenalin as the protagonist faces overwhelming odds and battles the antagonist. The reader sees himself as the hero. The threats are personal and the resolution emotionally satisfying when the villain is thwarted and the protagonist saves the day.

Men’s Adventure stories are similar, although they usually feature a cataclysmic event that will occur if the hero fails to outsmart the antagonist. Fantasy includes a good vs. evil element set in an alternative world, and dystopian fiction takes place in an after-the-apocalypse style setting when civilization as we know it is overtaken by a stronger, controlling entity. Romance may be included in the stories, but the main emphasis pits the protagonist against his or her opposing nemesis.

In Women’s fiction—and its chick lit offshoot—the reader journeys with the protagonist as she achieves a goal or learns something new about herself. A love interest may be included, although the romance is not the main focus of the story.

Literary fiction has been described as a segment of time in the protagonist’s life that does not necessary involve a goal or cause the lead character to change or grow. The resolution is often open-ended, leaving the reader to form his or her own conclusion to the story.

Romance readers never have to speculate about the ending of the stories they love to read. They know the heroine—with whom they identify—will find her hero, and the two of them will declare their love in the final scenes. Usually the hero proposes marriage, and sometimes the wedding is included as an epilogue. Wedding or not, the reader knows for certain that the hero and heroine will live happily ever after.

We all long for love, which is why romance stories resonate with readers. Finding love and being loved is the eternal quest. As Christians, we understand that the need for love is innate in all of us. God is love and the reason for our existence is to love him and serve him in this life and to be united with him forever in Heaven. The very essence of our being is centered on our love for God and His unconditional love for us. That love spills over into our love of neighbor and especially for that certain someone with whom we want to spend the rest of our life—our soulmate, our significant other, our spouse.

Secular romance most often focuses on physical love that the Greeks called eros. Christian romance elevates love to a higher level, known by the Greeks as agape or the giving of self for the good of the other. Christ died on the cross so we could have eternal life with him. Scripture recounts in John 15:13, “No greater love hath man than to lay down his life for another.” That’s sacrificial love and Christ asks us to follow his example. Including sacrificial love in our stories makes them even more satisfying to the reader.

We see this dying to self frequently in suspense stories when the hero is willing to sacrifice his own life to save the woman he loves, but it can also be found in stories that do not have life or death issues. “The Gift of the Magi,” by O. Henry, comes to mind where both the husband and wife sold what they prized most and used the money earned to buy a Christmas gift for the other. Their lives weren’t threatened, but their actions were sacrificial.

At the conclusion of a satisfying romance, the reader is uplifted. To capture her heart, add sacrificial elements, be they ever so subtle, to raise the bar on your Happily Ever After.

Tell us about the stories with Happily Ever Afters that resonated with you! What made them special? Let me know if you want to be entered in a drawing for a copy of my October Love Inspired Suspense, Amish Christmas Search!

Happy writing! Happy reading!

Wishing you abundant blessings,

Debby Giusti

www.DebbyGiusti.com

Amish Christmas Search

Oct 2020

An Amish girl’s disappearance is a mystery…

and the clues lead straight into danger at Christmas.

Convinced her friend didn’t run away as the police

believe, Lizzie Kauffman searches for the truth—but

someone will kill to keep it hidden. Now the Amish

housekeeper and her friend Caleb Zook are on the

run for their lives. And if they want to find their

missing friend, Lizzie and Caleb must figure out

a way to survive the holiday.

 Pre-order HERE!